Congratulations to our nurse scholars!

Hosting the Nursing Scholarship reception is one of the fun things I get to do as Chief Nursing Officer for Community. Those applying for any of our scholarships write an essay -- either about why they want to become a nurse or about their contributions to the nursing profession and how they envision themselves advancing the practice of nursing at Community once they have achieved their educational goal. The passion for nursing that comes through in their essays is always inspiring to me, helping me to remember why I am here.

If any of you ever doubt why you made the choice to become a nurse, come see me and I’ll let you read some of these essays. They may bring tears to your eyes, but I’m sure they will give you the lift you need to continue in this noble profession we have chosen.

We are fortunate to have generous donors who support nursing education so that we can award scholarships to staff who are studying to be a registered nurse and to RN’s who are advancing their education.

The Peters Foundation funds our Alice Peters Nursing Scholarships. For 11 years, Community staff who are studying to become nurses have been eligible to receive these $3,000 scholarships. Many of our recipients have had long journeys getting through their prerequisites and into nursing school; it is exciting to see the enthusiasm of our future nurses. Congratulations to the following employees who received these scholarships:

Simranjit (Sam) Bassi

Greg Caliwag

Kerry Cauthen

Jared Chang

Roxanne Dias

Aaron Dodd

Christian Garnica

Manion Leongson

Vaness Matcham

Ranbir Paurwal

Julie Stokes

Nancy Valdovinos-Felix

Veronica Vongsing

Lacy Wehner

This year, through the generosity of the Peters Foundation we were able to add a nursing leadership category of Alice Peters scholarships. In our ever-changing healthcare world, nursing professionals know that to be effective, they must never stop learning. This is even more important for our nursing leaders—the skills they need to successfully lead in our units and hospitals require advanced education. We encourage our leaders to obtain advanced degrees. I am pleased we have these additional scholarships to support our nurse leaders with the expense that comes along with their decision to pursue advanced degrees. Congratulations to the following scholarship winners who received $3000 to $5000 each (Pictured below with our three hospital CNOs):

Colette Baxter, RN

Emily Contreras, RN

Regina DeLa Rosa, RN

Ralph Garcia, RN

Kristin Guyett, RN

Joan Lamondin-Holloway, RN

Andrea Lee-Riggins, RN

Barbara Lipsey-Zellous, RN

Helen McNary, RN

Eric O'Connell, RN

Garth Wade, RN

Our third nursing scholarship category is the Marilyn Hawkins Nursing Leadership Scholarship Awards. For 14 years these scholarships have been awarded in memory of Marilyn Hawkins RN, an exceptional nursing leader who passed away in November, 1999. They recognize nursing professionals in our organization who have demonstrated excellence in their profession, a commitment to realizing their own potential and overall leadership. Congratulations to this year’s Marilyn Hawkins scholarship winners: